Marion County RECORD

BREAKING NEWS

Cell phones seized from two students and from Peabody-Burns social studies teacher Chris Young contained partially nude photos of all three, according to a probable cause affidavit released Friday by district court.
The affidavit also states that Young gave one of the students a promise ring as a Christmas gift.

County commissioners canceled a countywide burn ban in effect since March 12 this morning.
Lincolnville fire chief Lester Kaiser spoke to commissioners requesting that the ban be lifted.

After a dry 2016-17 winter, this winter has proven to be even worse, raising concerns on multiple fronts.
The period of November through January was the driest statewide since 1895, when records first started being kept, according to the Kansas Water Office.

Wanted: A new Marion city council member to fill the unexpired term of Melissa Mermis.
Mermis resigned her post Monday, citing a job change. She did not attend the council meeting.

As Chase Carlson looked over a room full of camouflaged coyote hunters Sunday at the Marion VFW post, he wore a look of satisfaction.
“It was a good turnout,” Carlson said. “I was pretty pleased with how it went. We’re going to try to get it to be an annual thing.”

A Durham man is under house arrest with electronic monitoring after being charged March 1 with a sex offense.
Taylor Giesbrecht, 18, is charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of 14. According to the complaint, the charge stems from a Jan. 21 incident of alleged lewd fondling.

Aspiring poet, recent college graduate, and New Jersey native Margaret wasn’t satisfied.
Although she majored in English and received a poetry certificate, her own work felt constrained.

A Hillsboro man and Galva woman died and a teenager was seriously injured in a two-vehicle accident Thursday east of Galva.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Timothy Kersten, 57, Hillsboro, was driving east at 8:40 p.m. Thursday on US-56 approximately two miles east of Galva when his 1994 Ford pickup crossed the center line to the westbound shoulder and collided head on with a 2001 Honda SUV driven by Abby McIntosh, 34, Galva.

Burning in the county has been banned due to dry and hazardous conditions.
Acting on a recommendation from fire chiefs, county commissioners approved the ban at Monday’s meeting.

A county commission vote at the year’s second meeting on Jan. 8 will be reviewed during a future meeting.
Commission chairman Dianne Novak said at Monday’s meeting she’d spoken with a couple of attorneys about commissioners accepting a resignation with a condition attached on Jan. 8, and both said the commission should not have done things in that manner. Novak doesn’t want to change a vote made in the past, but wants the commission to follow its own rules in the future.

Marion boasts a new bait and ammunition shop offering 24-hour service.
Owned by Shannon Allen, Twila Legg, and Joe Legg, Coyote Crossing Bait and Ammo is located at 404 W. Santa Fe St.

City council members Monday approved a new floodplain management ordinance and zoning regulations that change nothing for Marion residents.
Because the city’s levy is accredited and measures up to Federal Emergency Management Administration standards, the new map won’t affect insurance, city administrator Roger Holter told council members.

Services for Timothy Kersten, 57, who died Thursday near Galva, were today at Zion Lutheran Church in Hillsboro, with interment at Zion Lutheran Cemetery.
He was born Sept. 4, 1960, to John and Wilma (Groeschel) Kersten in Houston, Texas.

Services for Hilda Schmidt, 96, who died Monday at Hillsboro Community Hospital, will be at 3 p.m. Friday at First Mennonite Church, Hillsboro, with interment at Lehigh Mennonite Cemetery. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Jost Funeral Home, Hillsboro.
She was born April 29, 1921, to Bernhard and Helena (Schmidt) Schmidt in rural Walton. She married Peter Schmidt Jr. on June 11, 1946, at Tabor Mennonite Church, rural Newton.

With continuing dry weather conditions, county farmers are worried about running out of hay for their livestock. They have to feed hay longer than usual because lack of rain is keeping grass from growing.
Mark Harms of Lincolnville, who runs a large seedstock operation, is one of those.

It’s lambing season at Stardust Sheep Farm southeast of Lincolnville, and the sounds of lambs bleating for their mothers fill the air.
On this bright, sun-filled March morning, the large sheep barn has a unique sheep smell and is full of pens that hold ewes and their babies. Bits of wool are scattered on fresh straw that covers the barn floor. Fat cats can be seen roaming here and there throughout the barn, keeping mice in check.

Jackie Hett and her husband, Walter, farmed from the time they married in 1946.
After his death in 1998, Jackie and her son, then her grandson, have continued the cattle operation southeast of Marion.

What better way to learn about producing livestock and advocating for the industry than by attending a livestock school?
Laura Klenda of Pilsen, an ag teacher at Centre, is a member of the 2018 Kansas Livestock Association Young Stockmen’s Academy.

Growing up on an alpaca farm north of Peabody, 24-year-old Michaela Methvin always knew she eventually wanted to travel and live in a bigger city; she just didn’t know how.
It wasn’t until she met her fiancé, Brian Heinz, a San Diego, California native, while studying at Kansas State University, that she discovered it would be possible to trade in life on the farm for a life of traveling, experiencing different cultures, meeting people from all parts of the globe, and modeling.

Area sorghum producers are eligible for nomination to two positions on the United Sorghum Checkoff Program Board of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
Additional information regarding the board and application process is available by calling Jesse McCurry, Kansas Grain Sorghum, (785) 477-9474, or emailing jesse@ksgrainsorghum.org; or Mark Nelson, Kansas Farm Bureau, (785) 587-6000, or emailing nelsonm@kfb.org.

Goessel fire chief Matthew Voth advises people to take precautionary measures to avoid accidental fires. A county burn ban is in effect through Monday and may be extended.
“We are in an extremely dry and dangerous situation,” Voth said.

Consider that headline to be not a statement unto itself, but the beginning of a fill-in-the-blank question, the sort I used to enjoy as a professor when setting up my students for the dreaded essay questions that came at the end of my tests.
“When the well runs dry, _________.”

ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

Harriet Bina presented a history of Father Emil Kapaun at the March 5 meeting of Neo Century Club.
Members voted to donate money to Marion City Park stage roof and to Marion Fire Department smoke detector fund.

Karen Miles and Shannon James of Miles By Design Salon shared with 15 members of the 20th Century Club on March 5 the services they provide their clients. They brought samples of clothing for sale.
Cathy Henderson and Lala Lovelady were hostesses.

Roy Bird, a Topeka author of 17 books on Kansas history, will present the program, “Remembering Marion County’s ’51 Flood,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Kansas Room at Marion City Library.
The program will give an overview of what the whole state experienced during the flood and how Marion County fit into the picture.

Marion County Democrats met Saturday at Marion Community Center.
Cards with the party platform were distributed.

SENIOR CENTER:

MEMORIES:

MEMORIES IN FOCUS:

The halls of Marion Elementary School were filled with throngs of students and families Tuesday for book-related fun and games.
Groups rotated among a flip-flop book walk, Treasure Island book fair, reader’s reef, Pirate Island, walk the plank games, and making shark tank snacks in the lunchroom.

Who knew that buying and selling sports cards could be a profitable business in more ways than one.
Centre seniors Cole Srajer and Max Svoboda were pleasantly surprised to learn that their business, Cole’s Cards, placed first in the Marion County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge last week at Tabor College.

A 3-year $60,000 renewal contract with Edgenuity was approved Monday by Centre board of education for the district’s Kansas Online Learning Program.
Edgenuity provides the educational material for the program.

Marion High School standout basketball player Kourtney Hansen tops a list of four Warriors tapped for postseason honors by Heart of America League coaches.
Hansen was named to the first team after a senior season in which she averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds a game and closed out her high school career with 1,077 total points.

Cade Harms of Marion, a freshman at Kansas State University in Manhattan, was among 34 students selected recently for Engineering Ambassadors, a student organization that assists with student recruitment and promotes engineering careers.
Harms, a 2017 Marion High School graduate, is majoring in mechanical engineering.

Marion-Florence school district is looking for students who will be enrolling in kindergarten this fall. They must be 5 years of age by Aug. 31.
Kindergarten roundup will be March 26 at the elementary school. Parents who wish to enroll kindergartners this fall should contact Deb Shipman at 382-3771 to make an appointment.

BOWLING:

SCHOOL MENUS:

The county planning commission and board of zoning appeals will meet March 22 at 203 S. Third St., Marion.
The board will consider an application for a conditional use permit for Kevin and Michele D. Carter to convert a barn to a residence and retain the existing residence for use as an art studio at 2166 Remington Rd., Marion.